Abstract

Handbooks are assigned the task of presenting knowledge in a systematic fashion for practical learning purposes. Such a task is less immediate in the case of a complex field of knowledge as urban planning. This article - following the publication of a planning handbook by the same authors - summarizes the educational choices of the handbook through five theses: 1. urban planning is a broad field of knowledge; 2. in order to teach spatial planning we must motivate its instrumental value for the purpose of territorial governance; 3. the technique of spatial planning originates from recognizable matrices; 4. the basic technique of spatial planning can be identified with zoning; 5. territorial governance is not technical knowledge, it is a political practice taught as to understand the uses and effects of spatial planning.